Sarah's Landing - Episode I

ONE

Three years is not a long time but when you're trying to erase a memory it can seem forever. Sometimes, while walking across the base, the noise of a machine would startle Joshua. He would stop as if waiting for something. Other times, someone's laughter would bother him, anger him, and cause him to remember the violent churning static, the endless silence. What did happen out there in space? How could the starship disappear so completely? Joshua remembered sitting in that stark white hospital room three years ago listening, waiting throughout the night  pounding the video monitor with his fists, but there were no answers, no human voices. Now, more than ever, reports upset him, especially reports of disappearances. Why, he wondered, did it bother him so much when people, he did not know, mysteriously disappeared just because they happened to be in the right place at the wrong time?

His memories of EARTH STAR-I were bad enough, but his reassignment was worse. He was told his ear problem, a result of a viral infection, made it impossible for him to remain an astronaut. He could help, he said, training a new crew or being part of a design team for the next mission. After all, could SICOM afford to throw away a trained astro-biologist?

"Use me, damn it," he demanded. "Let me be a part of all of this."

The Space Intelligence Command (SICOM) agreed Joshua Morgan's talents were important and useful for the success of future efforts. But the budget cuts had trimmed down their teams, so all he could hope for now was a slot as a floating alternate. He would be used whenever and wherever SICOM had need of him. Joshua reluctantly agreed. So until a permanent slot opened up, Joshua was transferred to the Space Intelligence Alien Investigative Team. His job, as part of Alien Intelligence, was to investigate any unfinished cases of strange incidents that had occurred, and perhaps were still occurring. He closed the book on the last of his present cases. There was nothing to it. The man disappeared because he wanted to. Now Joshua was flying home and back to SICOM after two months of intensive field work in various parts of the world. He sometimes wished all of his cases were this easy, but then he would not have a job.

Back in Houston, life was more pleasurable. His office on the fourth floor of the Administration Building overlooked the entire base. Furnished during the days of prosperity he had many plush comfortable chairs, lush tropical plants and a large mahogany desk. Across the hall from his office, behind heavy glass doors, an environmentally controlled complex protected several highly sophisticated computers. It would be easy, he thought, to correlate two months' fieldwork.

Having entered the case file information into the computers Joshua returned to his office and sat back to wait for results. Tapes from other agents had been stacked on his desk, "Bury them or resolve them!" the note attached to the top one ordered. How lucky can I get? He thought, smiling wryly.

Staring out the window he absentmindedly watched white puffy clouds expand and separate. Sighing he leaned over, inserted the first tape and turned on his recorder. He listened intently to each one of the individuals being interviewed as they related their experiences. They were intelligent and not easily frightened people but strange events had changed their lives. They had been witnesses to unbelievable occurrences. Joshua was skeptical yet, he had to admit, they seemed levelheaded and sincere.